Enclosed portable staircase

ABSTRACT

AN ENCLOSED, SELF-CONTAINED STAIRCASE CONSTRUCTION HAVING A STRAIGHT SECTION AND A CURVED SECTION, EACH WITH A CEILING, STEPS AND SUPPORTING WALLS, THE WALLS COMPRISING PANELS OF SHEET MATERIAL, THE SECTIONS BEING ADAPTED FOR PREFABRICATION AND TRANSPORTATION AND HAVING COPLANAR   MATCHING EDGES, WITH DETACHABLE CONNECTOR MEANS FOR JOINING SAID EDGES.

Feb. 23, 1971 A. c. SANFORD ENCLOSED PORTABLE STAIRCASE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed sept. s, 1969 INVENTOR. ARTHUR CAROL SANFORD FIG. 4

ATTORNEYS Feb. 23, 1971 A. c. SANFORD ENCLOSED PORTABLE STAIRCASE 4Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 5, 1969 I NVEN TOR.

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ENCLOSED PORTABLE STAIRCASE Filed Sept. 5, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTOR. ARTHUR CAROL SANFORD I ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofice3,564,792 ENCLOSED PORTABLE STAIRCASE Arthur Carol Sanford, P.O. Box1177, Pompano Beach, Fla. 33061 Filed Sept. 3, 1969, Ser. No. 854,940Int. Cl. E04f 11/02 U.S. Cl. 52-187 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREAn enclosed, self-contained staircase construction having a straightsection and a curved section, each with a ceiling, steps and supportingwalls, the wal s comprising panels of sheet material, the sections beingadapted for prefabrication and transportation and having coplanarmatching edges, with detachable connector means for joining said edges.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In prior prefabricated housing constructionshaving wood staircases of which I am aware, the staircases areconstructed when the building is assembled and erected on the buildingsite, and are either custom built at the site or are required to beconstructed at the site from a number of prefabricated parts. In eitherevent the construction costs are excessive. Furthermore, in both casesthe staircases are not per se enclosed or self-contained. Certainprefabricated staircases principally made of metal have been providedbut these are expensive to manufacture and transport.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a general object of the present inventionto provide a novel and inexpensive enclosed portable staircase which canbe prefabricated in portable, pre-assembled sections quickly connectabletogether at the building site with a minimum amount of time and expense.

This is accomplished by making the ceiling and supporting walls ofinexpensive sheet material such as plywood, bending the curved walls byscarfing parallel grooves therein, and connecting the panels, stairs andstair parts together with toothed metal connector strips. The separate,completely finished sections can be transported to the building site,set in place within the house or building and connected together quicklyand easily by means of similar toothed metal connector strips which aredetachably connected together.

The purposes of the invention are accomplished by the improved parts,components, connections and constructions, and methods of assembly shownbyway of example in the drawings herein, and described in detail in thespecification, the scope of the invention being defined in the appendedclaims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the improvedassembled staircase, with parts broken away.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation thereof.

FIG. 3 is a partial rear elevation thereof.

FIG. 4 is an expanded side view showing the various panels making up theceiling and rear walls (before bending).

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of the panels making up the top sectionof the rear or outer wall, with the front panels removed.

FIG. 6 is a similar view showing the front panels attached to the topsection.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged front elevational view of the connected panelsmaking up the lower section of the rear or outer wall.

3,564,792 Patented Feb. 23, 1971 FIG. 8 is a similar view of theconnected panels making up the lower section of the front or inner wall.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross sectional view on line 9-9 of FIG. 2 showingthe manner of joining the sections.

FIG. 10 is an elevational view as on line 10-10 of FIG 9.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the manner ofinterfitting the steps of the curved section into the newel post.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, thenovel staircase has preferably a straight section indicated as a wholeat A and a curved section indicated as a whole at B. The straightsection A supports a straight stair flight of treads 10 and risers 11descending from an upper floor level 12 to the curved section B whichhas curved stairs consisting of triangular treads 13 and radial risers14 continuing downwardly to a straight step 15 at right angles to thesteps in the straight section A and with its riser 16 terminating at alower lever 17.

The joint line between the two sections A and B is indicated at 20 andextends preferably in a vertical plane through the front and rear sidewalls and the ceiling. The side walls and ceiling are preferably formedfrom panels of plywood or other suitable semi-flexible material such asplastic. The side panels form a stair well around the stair and thestair well is covered by the inclined, coplanar ceiling panels 21 and 22having a joint line 20'.

The marginal edge portions of the sections along joint lines 20 and 20have toothed anchor strips 24 embedded therein, as shown in FIGS. 9 and10, the strips also having rows of apertures 25 for receiving andclosely fitting the teeth 26 of an overlying connecting strip 27spanning the joint. When the two sections are brought into abutment, theteeth 26 of the connecting strip can be progressively inserted into theapertures 25 of the strips 24 to quickly connect the two sectionstogether. Such a connection is fully disclosed in my prior Pat. No.3,454,292, issued July 8, 1969.

The side walls of each section A and B-preferably comprise upper andlower side walls which may be connected at a horizontal joint line 30substantially at the top of the straight stair section. The upper frontand rear side walls of section A may be identical flat panels 31 havingtheir upper edges inclined to conform to ceiling panel 21, and the lowerfront and rear side walls having identical rectangular flat panels 32and 33. The abutting edges of panels 31, 32 and 33 may be permanentlyconnected by single toothed strips 34 having rows of teeth embedded inthe contiguous edge portions of the panels. The contiguous edges of thepanels 31 and 21 may be similarly joined by angular toothed strips 35embedded therein.

The upper front side wall also includes a flat panel 36 having its topedge similarly connected to the inclined ceiling panel 22, the loweredge 37 of panel 36 forming together with the adjoining vertical edge 38an entrance opening to the bottom of the stairs.

Referring to FIG. 3, the rear side wall of section B is formed by curvedupper and lower panels 39" and 40 which enclose the radial stair treads13. The upper curved panel 39 has its top edge shaped to conform to thecurved edge of ceiling panel 22 and preferably connected thereto by atoothed angular strip 41 curved to fit the joint. The horizontalabutting edges of the upper and lower panels 39 and 40 are permanentlyjoined, preferably by curved toothed strips similar to the strips 34 Ifmulti-ply plywood is used for the panels 39 and 40, they may be formedinto the desired curvilinear shape by scarfing vertical grooves 42 about-1 inch apart from the outer surface into but not through the innermostply, and then bending the panels into the desired arcuate shape.

The ends of the treads 10 and risers 11 may be connected to the panelsby angular toothed strips similar to strips 35, but with the teethextending in opposite directions, or the ends supported in slots cut orformed by cleats in the inner surfaces of the panels 32 and 40 in ausual manner (not shown). The longitudinal joints between the edges ofthe treads and risers are preferably connected by toothed metal strips34 which have at least one row of teeth embedded in each of the abuttingedge portions of the treads and risers. These edge portions may berabbeted so that the strips are flush with the wood surfaces if desired.The connection between the tread and riser at joint line 20 ispreferably made when the sections A and B are connected by a detachablestrip connector having anchor strips 24 connected together by a strip27.

A newel post 44 extends vertically in front of the vertical edge 38 ofpanel 32 with a portion of the post overlapping said edge, and saidportion being notched as best shown in FIG. 11 to receive the apex endsof the triangular treads and the risers therefor.

The improved self-contained staircase is adapted to be inexpensivelyfabricated in two completely assembled sections A and B which arequickly and easily connected together at the desired location in thebuilding.

What is claimed is:

1. An enclosed staircase construction comprising prefabricatedcompartments having inner and outer side walls and ceilings of sheetmaterialpanels, said compartments having coplanar joining edges, atleast one of said compartments having a curved outer side wall sectionof flexible sheet material, toothed connector strips detachablyconnecting said panels and the joining edges of said compartments, and aseries of steps supported on the inner and outer side walls.

2. An enclosed staircase construction as in claim 1,

in which the inner and outer side Walls and ceilings of the compartmentsare plywood.

3. An enclosed staircase construction as in claim 1, in which the stepsare secured to the inner and outer side walls by toothed connectorstrips.

4. An'enclosed staircase construction as in claim 2, in which the stepsare secured to the inner and outer side walls by toothed connectorstrips.

5. An enclosed staircase construction as in claim 3, in which the stepscomprise treads and risers secured to each other by toothed connectorstrips.

6. An enclosed staircase construction as in claim 4, in which the stepscomprise treads and risers secured to each other by toothed connectorstrips.

7. An enclosed staircase construction as in claim 1, in which onecompartment comprises a straight section having a series of straightsteps, and a second compartment comprises a curved section having aseries of steps radiating substantially from the radial center of theouter curved side wall.

8. An enclosed staircase construction as in claim 7, in which the innerand outer side walls and ceilings of the compartments are plywood.

9. An enclosed staircase construction as in claim 8, in which the stepsare secured to the inner and outer side walls by toothed connectorplates.

10. An enclosed staircase construction as in claim 9, in which the stepscomprise treads and risers secured to each other by toothed connectorstrips.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,173,074 2/1916 Williams 52-187JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner

